Garcia flirts with perfection as White Sox beat Angels

Freddy Garcia had no regrets Wednesday, even after coming within four outs of the White Sox's first perfect game since 1922.

Garcia lost his chance to pitch the 15th regular-season perfect game in major-league history when Adam Kennedy cleanly singled a 3-2 changeup into center field in the eighth.

"I threw the right pitch," said Garcia, who wasn't about to pitch around the pesky Kennedy to protect his no-hit bid.

"I was expecting anything," Kennedy said. "I didn't think he would groove a fastball. He didn't, and I just tried not to do too much with it."

At that point, Garcia already had done more than the Sox had hoped, preserving a taxed bullpen while extending the rotation's recent mastery in a 9-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

"I thought he was going to get it," said first baseman Paul Konerko, who caught Macier Izturis' line drive to start the seventh and backed Garcia with four hits.

"I thought it was going to happen. Everyone was heartbroken. You're not sure if he's going to come that close again."

It marked the second time in as many seasons that Garcia lost a no-hitter in the eighth, but it wasn't nearly the disappointment he and the Sox suffered on Aug. 23, 2005, when Minnesota's Jacque Jones hit a leadoff homer to hand Garcia a 1-0 loss.

"Every day is a new saga," Konerko said after the Sox cut their American League wild-card deficit to 1½ games behind Minnesota, which lost 1-0 to Oakland. The Sox also climbed within three games of the first-place Tigers, who lost to Texas. "That's the way it's going to be the rest of the way. It's just about the results, not about what it looks like."

The Sox rotation has a 2.11 ERA over its last 10 games and is mirroring last year's success.

"I've been saying all year long that if the starters do what they're supposed to do, we're pretty dangerous," manager Ozzie Guillen said.

Garcia didn't give up a hit until his 100th pitch. He was fully aware of his no-hit bid by looking at the scoreboard, and his teammates played with extra defensive zest.

"A lot of things went through my mind," said Guillen, mindful that Anibal Sanchez threw a no-hitter last week for Florida. "This is the best game he (Garcia) threw. I'm not talking about his one-hitter. I'm talking about his breaking ball and fastball, hitting the spots. His slider was outstanding."

It was the first time this season that catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. worked with Garcia.

"I just put my fingers down," said Alomar, who was teased by coach Joey Cora because Miguel Olivo caught Sanchez's no-hitter in his third season and Alomar has yet to catch one. "We didn't have a game plan. I just told him to do his thing and don't worry about it."

Wilson Alvarez was the last Sox pitcher to throw a no-hitter when he beat Baltimore 7-0 on Aug. 11, 1991, in his second major-league start. In the fourth start of his career, Charlie Robertson pitched the only Sox perfect gamea 2-0 victory at Detroit on April 30, 1922.

Garcia said he quit looking at his velocity readings (around 90 m.p.h.) and concentrated on pitch quality. He struck out Garret Anderson on a split-finger fastball to start the seventh.

That came one inning after Garcia retired formidable Vladimir Guerrero on a grounder to short in which Juan Uribe momentarily paused before throwing to first.

"After we got Vlad out, because he has a big strike zone and Freddy was pitching well, we had a good chance to get it," Alomar said. "But Kennedy is one of those guys who is a tough out. When the count got to 3-2, we wanted to keep a perfect game and throw a strike."

As soon as Kennedy hit his two-out single to center, Uribe walked to the mound to make sure Garcia didn't lose his concentration. Garcia retired Kendry Morales on a fly to center, and then was congratulated by his teammates and several thousand fans who cheered.

"The fans here have treated me well," said Garcia, who improved to 14-3 lifetime against the Angels and 8-1 lifetime at Angel Stadium. "I know those guys very well. They like to swing early."

The Angels have scored just one run in 24 innings this year against the two-time All-Star.

The Sox put the game away early, scoring four times in the fourth, with Jermaine Dye snapping an 0-for-12 slump with a two-run double.